


Meet the Parents

by afewmistakesago



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: awkward parent meetings, post s6 au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-25 22:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12045378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afewmistakesago/pseuds/afewmistakesago
Summary: Prompt: Gideon is the son of the Dark One and Belle, but the boy he's courting is the son of very traditional heroes who hate magic. Gideon asks his parents to PLEASE pretend to be regular people during dinner.(Belle, Rumple, and Gideon end up living in the EF2, 24 years post the season six finale. Rumple is still the Dark One, but that’s not a well-known fact.)





	Meet the Parents

Belle sighed as she peaked out the curtains, waiting for her son to arrive. It has been three months since she’s seen her son last, and she’s eager for him to return. Gideon had become a very successful healer, and had been invited to tour the Enchanted Forest and meet different villages to teach them simple remedies and cures. It was great for him, but nerve-wracking for a mother who still worried over her twenty-four year old son. Gideon no longer lived with his parents, but had taken to coming over for dinner at least once a week.

“It’s only been three months,” Rumple said, coming up behind his wife and slipping his hands around her waist.

Belle tilted her head back towards him, eyes still on the horizon. “Three long months since I’ve seen my only son.”

Belle turned, looking up at Rumple. “You missed him, too.”

He nodded. “I did. But you know he won’t come through the front door, he’ll just…”

Rumple waved his hands. “Poof,” he said, and Belle giggled.

“Well, he certainly got his flair for the dramatic entrances from _you_.”

“Like you’ve never burst into a room and -”

Their playful banter was interrupted by a red plume of magic. Sure enough, Gideon had arrived in the living room, looking a bit tired but overall just the same as before.

“Mum!” he said, dropping his suitcase, just as Belle crashed into his arms. She buried him in a hug, grinning. Rumple chuckled at the height difference between them, waiting for their embrace to finish so he could give his son a hug as well.

“Papa,” Gideon said with a smile, hugging his father as well.

“You have to tell us everything,” Belle immediately began, “But you must be starving, when did you last eat?”

Gideon shrugged, “This morning. But I can always eat.”

They headed towards the dining room, making small talk about the current weather. After Rumple had dinner appear on the table, filled with Gideon’s favorites, he could tell their son seemed nervous. Gideon was telling them the highlights of his trip, but not going into specifics. “Is something wrong, Gid?” he asked, reaching for another roll.

Gideon bit his lip, pushing the food around on his plate. Just like his mother, he didn’t eat very well when he was nervous. Belle caught on, her eyes suddenly concerned. She put her hand on her son’s shoulder. “Did something happen, Gideon? On your trip?”

“Well, I… met someone,” he said. “And I like him a lot. And I invited him and his parents over for dinner tomorrow night.”

Belle’s mouth dropped, then spread into a grin. “Gideon! Why didn’t you mention him in your notes home? What’s his name?”

Gideon had dated a bit in his teenage years, but nothing ever serious. Certainly nobody that he had ever wanted to meet his parents.

“Tomorrow night, you said?” Rumple asked, “I’ll have to get the castle all cleaned up…”

Belle pursed her lips, “That’ll take but a moment. Just snap your fingers and it’s done. Do you know what time they’ll be here?”

Gideon continued to stare at his plate, and his parents stared at him, waiting on details. “Gideon…?” Belle prompted.

“His name is Matthew,” Gideon said, “He was another healer on my tour, a non-magical one. And his parents are Elena and Lucas of the Far West. And they hate magic, because of some accident with his grandfather and a dark sorcerer.”

Belle’s eyes widened, glancing at Rumple with an alarmed look on her face. “ _Not_ papa,” Gideon said quickly, “I checked.”

Rumple frowned. “Does this Matthew know your father is the Dark One? And that _you_ have magic?” They were in an alternate Enchanted Forest from the one that Rumple had met Belle in, but it wasn’t hard to figure out who Rumple was.

Nodding, Gideon sighed. “Yes. He’s okay with it, but he knows his parents never would be.”

Belle sat back in her chair, thinking. “Well, that’s… something.”

“Could you try to act.. normal?” Gideon said, the words sounding like they pained him. “I love you guys, you know that, but...”

“You mean this isn’t normal?” Rumple asked teasingly, a single rose appearing in his hand. He offered it to Belle, who smiled at him. She tucked it into the bouquet of flowers already decorating the center of the table.

“That is precisely what you can’t do. But it was a stupid idea, anyway,” Gideon said, sounding defeated. “I’ll send a dove and cancel. Don’t even worry about it.”

“No, no, we can handle it,” Rumple assured him, trying to be confident. He knew this boy must be important if Gideon wanted him to come over for dinner. “I can get all the cleaning done before they come, and your mother can hide all the potions and whatnot with the Invisibility Sheets, and for dinner…”

His wife gasped. “I can’t cook! I haven’t cooked since… Gideon was born, probably.”

Rumple laughed. “I learned a thing or two about cooking in our Storybrooke days. I can handle it, should one of them stumble into the kitchen.”

“You two would really do that for me? Hide who you are?” Gideon asked, looking slightly shocked.

Belle reached to cover his hand with hers. “Baby, we’d do anything for you. But you need to let them know who you really are eventually.”

“I agree with your mother on that one,” Rumple said.

Gideon nodded, smiling but looking more nervous than ever. It was only new love that could have someone so uncertain and hopeful at the same time.

\---

Before they knew it, the castle was prepped and spotless, dinner already simmering away on the stove, and someone was knocking on the front door.

“Ready for this?” Belle whispered, smoothing out the dress she was wearing.

Rumple shrugged. He’d toned down his usual leather outfits he’d been favoring for something a bit more traditional. “It’s for Gideon.”

Gideon appeared, half-running towards the door. Belle smiled as he opened it, ushering in his Matthew and his family. “Uh, Mr. and Mrs. Deluca, these are my parents. Belle and Rumplestiltskin… Gold,” Gideon said.

Pleasantries were exchanged, the parental units scanning each other and their respective sons. “Rumplestiltskin,” Matthew’s father said. “What kind of name is that?”

“A terrible one,” Rumple said with a small laugh. “Dinner?”

Gideon and Matthew mostly kept up the conversation between the two of them, just recounting stories of their tour. At a moment of silence, Elena spoke up. “Belle, this stew is lovely. You must share your recipe.”

Belle laughed, “Oh, no, I don’t cook. That’s all Rumple, he learned a good few meals back when-”

Gideon cleared his throat loudly, and Belle stopped herself. “He’s naturally a good cook. I burn water, ha ha.”

Elena smiled, but looked unsure at Gideon’s interruption and Belle’s awkward cover-up. She moved suddenly for a salt shaker, knocking over her glass of wine. She looked embarrassed, shuffling to gather napkins to cover it, and Rumple said, “Don’t worry, I’ll just -”

Belle shot him a pointed look, and Rumple stood up. “I’ll just get more napkins.”

Belle looked at Gideon next, who raised his shoulders exasperatedly, trying to help Matthew’s mother with burning red cheeks. “You know, sometimes I wish I could just snap and remove the stain,” Elena said with a stilted laugh, looking down at the deep red now ruining her light-colored dress.

Gideon looked so conflicted at her statement, Belle almost had to laugh. Her son was completely able to remove that stain, but he was too nervous to even ask. After the crisis had been solved, they returned to their meals. “Now, there were all kinds of healers on this tour, right, son?” Matthew’s father spoke up, for the first time that night.

Matthew nodded, glancing at Gideon.

“We are so proud of our son for using natural remedies to cure people,” he said, looking pointedly at Rumple and Belle. “Herbs, roots… it’s incredible what the land provides for us.”

Belle shifted, Rumple reaching to put his arm around her. “We’re proud of Gideon, too,” she replied simply. “Both of our sons work for good.”

“Some healers use magic, which feels like a cheap cop-out to what we can do for ourselves,” he said, and Belle noticed Rumple sitting up straighter. She wanted to correct him, to tell him some people - like Gideon - simply inherited magic and were able to use it properly to help people.

“And what do you do, Rumplestiltskin?” Lucas asked, suddenly changing the subject. “Must be something lucrative with this size a home.”

“Father,” Matthew said, lowering his eyes.

“No, no, Matthew, it’s fine. I just want to know more about this boy you like so much and his family.”

Belle and Rumple looked at each other, and then at Gideon. “I… make gold,” Rumple said finally. “On a spinning wheel. I have since I was a boy. Selling that allows us a comfortable lifestyle.”

That answered seemed to pass whatever test this Lucas had in mind. Dinner ended, and they retired to the living room. Belle almost laughed out loud at Rumple trying to figure out their fireplace. She hadn’t realized how dependent they were on magic here. Eventually he figured it out, joining her on the couch. “I’m going to have you do laundry next,” she whispered.

Rumple rolled his eyes. “Don’t patronize me, Mrs. Gold.”

Gideon and Matthew seemed to be in their own world, chatting quietly, with Matthew’s parents on an opposite couch, looking around the decor of their living room with interest. “Where did you get that?” Elena asked, pointing to a painting they had acquired on their travels shortly after they’d left Storybrooke.

“Italy,” Rumple said, not thinking before he spoke. Gideon’s head swiveled towards them in alarm.

“Italy?” she repeated. “I’ve never heard of it.”

Matthew spoke, his voice a bit shaky. “Gideon and his parents have - have traveled all through different realms.”

Elena raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Gideon nodded. “Yes. Italy was when I was a baby, so I don’t remember, but we went to the Land Without Magic just a few years ago for my 21st birthday.”

“You’re realm jumpers?” Lucas asked, sounding confused.

“More like magic bean enthusiasts,” Rumple said drily.

“ _Magic?_ ” Elena and Lucas said at the same time.

“Gideon and his father both have magic,” Matthew said, taking Gideon’s hand. “And I know you may not like it, but Gideon uses his powers to heal people, not hurt people. We can’t let events of the past color how we see people today.”

Gideon gave a bashful smile, and Belle squeezed Rumple’s arm. “So you two.. Pretended to not have magic?” Elena asked, looking between Rumple and Gideon.

“I just… wanted you to accept me,” Gideon said, running his hand through his hair.

“You’ve been so anti-magic my whole life, but then I met Gideon and… everything changed,” Matthew said quietly.

“Well,” Lucas said, looking slightly embarrassed. “You could have told us. We’re not impossible to change.”

His wife nodded, taken aback. “So… how do you two… have magic, exactly?”

Rumple snapped his fingers, a tray of snacks appearing on the coffee table between them. “I bet we’ll need food to tell this whole story.”


End file.
